Feature

Equipped, enabled, empowered

amymaclachlan

When ministers are on holiday or maternity leave, at home sick in bed, or when the pulpit is simply vacant, congregations are missing a main ingredient for Sunday service. Not content to leave congregations without worship each week, the Presbytery of Cape Breton, currently faced with six vacant charges, found a solution in lay worship teams — groups of trained, educated and commissioned lay persons who conduct worship services for congregations in need. “Equipped, enabled, empowered,” is their mantra.

Warmth and readiness to share

amymaclachlan

We're excited about the future and to make room for people to come and worship and to come to Christ,” said Rev. Sabrina Caldwell, associate minister at Oakridge, London, where nearly 600 people come to worship. The Presbytery of London's largest congregation, which already has two Sunday services and a contemporary Saturday evening service, is looking to expand its doors. “The more the merrier!”

The sound of invisible trumpets

Joseph McLelland

“It's the theology, stupid!” What if it is? What if our diagnosis of the ills of the church — shrinking numbers and diminishing expectations, based on changes in social norms, charges of irrelevance and outdated sermons and liturgy and music — misses the heart of our problem: theology, doctrine, what we believe?

His words do not pass away

Barry Baldwin

Lloyd Evans in the British weekly Spectator unequivocally asserts that Jesus could not read, a claim made by many books and Internet sites, glossed in Northrop Frye's The Great Code: The Bible and Literature by placing Christ in the oral tradition of Socrates and other early Greek philosophers who wrote nothing, their teachings preserved by loyal disciples.

Gutsy moves push limits to new heights

amymaclachlan

There is a propensity for forward-thinking and innovative ministers who aren't afraid to push the limits in the Presbytery of Barrie. While remaining Presbyterian, they have embraced the 21st century with contemporary worship, a renewed focus on outreach and evangelism to win people to Christ, and pared-down services that appeal to younger and/or unchurched folk.

Massaging the mission

communications

As convener of the Presbyterian World Service & Development committee, Rev. Karen Horst had the opportunity to reach out to Malawi's AIDS orphans. Malawi has been struck particularly hard with the AIDS pandemic and its destruction affects every layer of society. Children are particularly vulnerable when the adults who normally provide for their security are dead of AIDS. The community of Collingwood and First Presbyterian quickly understood the pressing need and set about preparing a memorable fundraiser.

The Presbyterian mystique

Joseph McLelland

It began with Pierre Berton's 1965 book The Comfortable Pew, commissioned by the Anglican church, which had chapter headings such as Pretensions to Absolute Rightness, The Lukewarm Pulpit and The Ecclesiastical Caste System. It was a hot-button book at the time, much discussed and debated, in which Berton laid out “some of the areas in which I see the church going bankrupt.” The United Church of Canada produced Why Our Sea is Boiling the same year, seeking to refute Berton's claim, if only for that denomination. But, what of the Presbyterian Church?

Time for soul-searching in Essex-Kent

amymaclachlan

The Presbytery of Essex-Kent is at a crossroads. In the midst of the heartbreak that comes with closing congregations, it must forge ahead, nurturing remaining parishioners and pushing through the comfort levels of healthy congregations that can cause stagnation. Rev. Scott McAndless, presbytery clerk and minister at Knox, Leamington, understands this challenge. At 80 per cent of its capacity, the presbytery must expand to make room for newcomers. "We are as full as we can be given the present structure," said McAndless. "We like how we are though, so any discussion about changing to allow for real growth will be difficult."

Separating logic from lunacy

Michael Coren

Every few years or so the culture presents us with another empty mantra, intended to dismiss opponents of the status quo and ridicule their arguments. Not long ago we had the racism fetish. Conservatives and everybody else on the assumed right were racist and their policies based on racism.

Raising awareness in sacred places

amymaclachlan

Some congregations support food banks. Others raise funds for HIV/AIDS programs. St. George's, London, Ont., does both. The congregation has partnered with the AIDS Committee of London for the past eight years, helping the agency operate its Country Cupboard food bank for people living with HIV.

From Abner’s store to praise bands

amymaclachlan

Flanking the ever-growing Yonge St. corridor, northeast of Toronto, Oak Ridges presbytery is an anomaly in the Presbyterian church. "I think we're in a growth mode," said Rev. Sam Priestley, minister at St. Andrew's, Markham. "Many communities have a large number of young families and couples moving in, and we endeavour to minister to them."

Seeking the frightening answers

Michael Coren

Toronto is still writhing after a series of fatal shootings in its black community and still in shock that a white teenaged girl became a Christmas victim of the slaughter. But if truth be told it doesn't really make very much difference if the shootings are in Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton or anywhere else in Canada and it shouldn't matter if the communities in question are black or not.

Remaining faithful, now and in the future

amymaclachlan

The strong rural connection enjoyed by many of the congregations in the Presbytery of Lambton-West Middlesex is evident at the two-point charge of St. Andrew's, Watford, and Knox, Thedford, where they set aside a Sunday each year to pray for their farm families and to focus on the gift and responsibility of being keepers of God's earth. "I am a strong advocate for everyone being involved," said Rev. Christine O'Reilly. "Church is not a spectator sport!"